VERBATIM THEATRE Verbatim theatre is a phrase used to describe a type of plays that have become increasingly popular in later years. Verbatim plays are, as the name suggests, written using only verbatim testimony. The playwright interviews people that are connected to the topic that the play is focused on and uses their testimony to construct the piece.
This method has been increasingly popular in dealing with political topics.
Recent, high profile pieces of verbatim theatre includeTalking to Terrorists by Robin Soans My Name is Rachel Corrie]] by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner and The Permanent Way and Stuff Happens by David Hare. Australian plays include Run Rabbit, Run and Parramatta Girls by Alana Valentine, Aftershocks by Paul Brown and the Workers Cultural Action Committee. Foremost American exponents of this type of theatre are Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project and its play, the Laramie Project.
Look carefully at the following three clips. The first is from Alana Valentine, the author of one of the texts you're studying. The other two deal a Verbatim Theatre project dealing with the British presence in Hong Kong. Answer the questions which follow on your own page.
1. Alana Valentine criticises the trends in modern theatre, especially the notion of reworking and recontextualising classic plays. List some of these criticisms.
2. What does she propose as contributions of value in modern theatre, especially where the emphasis is more on global connections and universal stories?
3. How do you see this operating in some of the Verbatim Theatre texts we have been studying?
4. Watch the examples of Verbatim Theatre from Hong Kong. Describe the process which occurs from interview to the staging of the scene. Focus on what is transformed and the dramatic forms and acting styles you see evident.
5. How does the narrator function in these excerpts?
VERBATIM THEATRE
Verbatim theatre is a phrase used to describe a type of plays that have become increasingly popular in later years. Verbatim plays are, as the name suggests, written using only verbatim testimony. The playwright interviews people that are connected to the topic that the play is focused on and uses their testimony to construct the piece.
This method has been increasingly popular in dealing with political topics.
Recent, high profile pieces of verbatim theatre include Talking to Terrorists by Robin Soans
My Name is Rachel Corrie]] by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner and
The Permanent Way and Stuff Happens by David Hare.
Australian plays include Run Rabbit, Run and Parramatta Girls by Alana Valentine, Aftershocks by Paul Brown and the Workers Cultural Action Committee. Foremost American exponents of this type of theatre are Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project and its play, the Laramie Project.
Look carefully at the following three clips. The first is from Alana Valentine, the author of one of the texts you're studying. The other two deal a Verbatim Theatre project dealing with the British presence in Hong Kong. Answer the questions which follow on your own page.
1. Alana Valentine criticises the trends in modern theatre, especially the notion of reworking and recontextualising classic plays. List some of these criticisms.
2. What does she propose as contributions of value in modern theatre, especially where the emphasis is more on global connections and universal stories?
3. How do you see this operating in some of the Verbatim Theatre texts we have been studying?
4. Watch the examples of Verbatim Theatre from Hong Kong. Describe the process which occurs from interview to the staging of the scene. Focus on what is transformed and the dramatic forms and acting styles you see evident.
5. How does the narrator function in these excerpts?